Born in Atchison, Kansas, Ray P. Holland was interested in the outdoors beginning in his youth. He became a noted sportsman and writer, was dedicated to the management of wildlife and, as a United States Game Warden during World War I, became a key figure in the Supreme Court case of Missouri v. Holland, decided in 1920, a landmark case in constitutional and conservation law. Active in conservation groups such as the American Game Protective Association and the International Association of Game, Fish and Conservation Commissioners, Holland was editor of the magazine Field & Stream during its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s.